


Stories of the Second Self: Heart of Jötunheimr

by John_Steiner



Series: Alter Idem [184]
Category: Urban Fantasy - Fandom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:34:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25782943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/John_Steiner/pseuds/John_Steiner
Summary: High in the Rocky Mountains thrives a society of giants founded by Kinisha Johanson and the charter she wrote. Formally believing themselves to be alone after the fall of civilization, Kinisha learns that a federal agent named Zach has arrived to warn the giants of Jötunheimr that a militia of human purists are ascending the mountain to commit genocide. Kinisha has to rebuild a cannon left by Zach into a hand weapon in hopes of saving the people she leads.
Series: Alter Idem [184]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1618813





	Stories of the Second Self: Heart of Jötunheimr

For the better part of the morning Kinisha Johanson, wearing buckskin clothing, poured over the motley mass of engine parts on her workroom table. None of them were meant to function together, since they came from three separate machines, two of which were cars. Yet, the community needed a water pump, and of the hierarchy of needs water came only after breathable air.

Not that the air was intolerable nearly two years after the world stopped making sense. In fact, with the valley now devoid of human life and civilization the air had never been cleaner in Kinisha's memory. Especially, in the mountain vale that she and others like her fled to when intolerance turned to an attempt at extermination.

Busy welding a piece on, Kinisha barely heard a loud knock at her door. She pulled the arc welder away from the work and removed the clamp that was the other half of the circuit, before turning off it off and then shutting down the generator. Then she went for the door separating her workroom from the rest of the towering log cabin she and Jaimez had built.

"Jaimez," Kinisha called out in a deep baritone to the teen she adopted during the escape. "It's a couple hours before noon. You should be up."

The knock came again just as Kinisha got to door to open it. There stood Leora of the town council and sounding out of breath as she spoke, "You need to come to Utgard Hall, quick."

"Look," Kinisha replied, jabbing a blunt thumb over her shoulder. "I'm still working on the pump. Until that's done...."

Leora cut her off shaking her massive head. "It can wait. We have a major problem on our hands."

"More important than water?" Kinisha asked.

"Some guy arrived claiming to be from the federal government," Leora insisted, "We're not the only people left in the world!"

Jaimez clomped down the smaller set of steps. "It's Saturday isn't it? Can't I sleep in?"

Being hardly eight feet, five inches, Jaimez still had a mostly normal build. Though, his musculature was coming along rather well, and his facial features were showing early signs of adulthood; in that his eyes and ear now looked small on his face and his forehead had a subtle slope to it.

At fourteen foot, four Kinisha thought of herself as looking like a mashup between a neanderthal and a Tolkien dwarf. "You still have to bring in firewood that you said you'd get yesterday, and then look after the elk. That means clearing the ground so they can eat."

"Can't wait until spring," Jaimez griped as he headed back upstairs.

"Your coat, hat, and gloves had better be the reason you're going upstairs, mister." Kinisha's hardened for emphasis.

"It is," he answered with his defeated steps matching up.

"There's something off about this guy," Leora whispered once she figured Jaimez was out of earshot. "He's all covered up."

"Alright," Kinisha accepted, stepping outside without bothering with more apparel herself, and closed the heavy wooden door.

"How are Jaimez's growing pains?" Leora asked, as the two giant women stepped out onto the snow-covered main path between the two rows of huge cabins.

"He's starting to feel headaches now," Kinisha answered, "I figure they're worsening but nothing unusual from what you established as normal."

"That's good." Leora nodded and looked ahead to the intersection that was the effectual heart of the community.

"So is this federal guy--?" Kinisha left the question unfinished.

"Big as us?" Leora concluded the thought, and then answered "No, he's normal sized. He's wearing a windbreaker and a hoodie under that, but hasn't complained about the cold."

"Anything else?" Kinisha inquired, as she easily strode through snow over a foot deep.

"There's this," Leora paused and wave her hand over her face. "It's like some mirrored glass or plastic thing over his face."

"Huh," Kinisha voiced, "Maybe there's another kind of mutagen phenomenon out there."

"His breath doesn't give off condensation when he talks," Leora added, right about when the two reached the intersection.

"The mask, right?" Kinisha clarified, as she turned toward the town hall.

"You'd think you would see it coming out the sides where the mirror and the hood meet," Leora said in a quieter tone as she reached for the hefty wooden door handles.

Inside, Kinisha saw the entire city council despite the fact no formal sessions would be held for another week. Before them stood a smaller person as Leora described. At the side of his foot was a black nylon duffel bag. It looked full.

When the council members looked to Kinisha's entering the small man also turned around and spoke, "Kinisha Johanson, I take it?"

"Excuse me," Kinisha leaned forward making a face. "Who are you?"

"Zach," the man answered, and turned his covered head up at the ceiling. "High roof, even for you people."

"Cooler in summer and dissipates smoke above head level," Kinisha plainly explained, and got back on topic. "How did you know to find us, and why are you here?"

"Here in--," Zach paused, and then said, "Jötunheimr? Giants' Realm, if I understand it right. You're not asking about the rest of the world. That's interesting."

"Priorities," Kinisha replied, and folded her beefy arms to wait.

"Ahh." Zach seemed to catch on, and reached for his mirrored full face covering. "You're wondering about this."

Underneath was a face that in life would've been boyish, but now deathly pale, and not just because of the January mountain cold. Zach's eyes were solid black, while his temples and cheeks appeared sunken in.

"Just what are...?" Kinisha asked, unsettled by his appearance.

"Giants, vampires, and three other supernatural groups," Zach said, implying himself after naming the residents of Jötunheimr. "What's important is that I came here to warn you. Human purists are advancing up the Rocky Mountains as we speak. I only just got away from them heading here."

"Son of a bitch," Kinisha blurted out and shifted her stance in disbelief. "No one knew we were here until you turn up, and you led them right to us. Explain to me how's that helpful?"

"Hey." Zach raised his hand. "They were coming anyway, albeit slowly. In fact they're a couple people less after I passed them by. Ran all night to get here."

"Ran?" Kinisha doubted, "Through mountain snow in the dead of winter."

"Emphasis on dead," Zach said, giving no hint that he was joking or thought there was humor in the phrasing. "So I don't run out of breath."

"So, the feds sent you to warn us," Kinisha recounted, "Despite everything breaking down and not a peep even over Ham Radio."

"Things are tough all around," Zach admitted, and held his hands out to his sides. "But the good news is that much of the world is still there. Restoring order had come in bits and pieces. Took a year to get anyone from D.C. passed the Mississippi River."

"Are troops coming then?" Kinisha wondered.

"No, and because there are... other priorities," Zach answered, and then pointed at Kinisha to add, "However, with your background there may not be need for a clash of forces."

One hand on her hip and another brushing her hair aside, Kinisha sounded exasperated. "I was a range officer in the army and commanded a mechanics unit in a logistical support battalion."

"You still stick to the cover even though you had thought the whole of civilization collapsed," Zach noted with, possibly, a hint of amusement, and then said, "You're cleared to state what your real mission was in those convoys in Iraq... Prime Councillor."

Kinisha took a breath before trading eye contact with the assembled council and deciding to have out with it. "The convoys I was posted on were meant to lure Daesh militants out in the open. My mission was to, ah, weaken their leadership capabilities."

"Assassination?" Leora presented an incredulous face as she stepped around to look at Kinisha.

"Not proud of it," Kinisha confessed, and then returned eye contact. "But it's not like they were lawful combatants of an authentic governing body. Technically speaking, it was legal."

"They allowed women in combat then?" Leora sounded confused.

"Officially no," Kinisha answered, "My deployment was a trial run to determine how to implement a change in policy. It was counted among the successes. It's not formally recognized, but one of my shots was four hundred meters further out than the longest recognized sniper kill at the time. Was the top until that Canadian spec-ops guy beat me."

Turning to Zach, Leora asked, "How's she supposed to do that now?"

"That's actually part of the reason for my run-in with the purists," Zach hinted and pointed at the door. "Should we take a look?"

Zach trotted past them without waiting for an answer. Kinisha hesitated and turned to face the council which she had founded. They searched her face in turn, but she wasn't sure if they were judging her for the revelation.

"I know what we agreed to," Kinisha said at last. "War as a last resort, should we establish contact with other survivors, and only with unanimous consent of the council and two thirds majority of the community adults."

"Of the council, I can safely say you have that support," Leora assured.

"We hardly have any weapons," Kinisha devolved into doubt. "Hunting bows based on Kyle's Roman ballista recreation. Chandra's rockets for knocking down at-risk snowbanks. That's not exactly a militia."

"Here it is," Zach shouted from outside.

Kinisha's substantial brows furrowed, and she turned to go outside. Zach stood next to a large gun mounted on a flatbed two-wheeled trail, waving at it for Kinisha's approval.

"They got that up here?" Leora doubted.

"Not quite," Zach answered, "Which is part of my point. Their progress is slow-going, but they're trying to clear a road using hand tools and a couple Cat Challengers. You know, those small tractor snowplows?"

"That's a twenty millimeter Madsen," Kinisha observed.

"On marine mounts," Zach added and looked it over. "Not sure how they got their hands on it. You got an extra barrel, nine of these fifteen-round magazines, and the tools in that box."

"You said you ran all night?" Kinisha became even more incredulous. "You ran pulling this behind you?"

"Pushed," Zach corrected, "Turned it around backwards and pushed it up all night. Gives them a trail to follow, but like I said, they already knew you were up here. Now the way I engaged them should buy a little extra time...."

"What am I supposed to do with that?" Kinisha demanding, feeling anger well up within her. "I can't even my hand around the firing mechanism. What kind of time do you think we have?"

"Probably a couple weeks," Zach answered the last part first, and then added, "You'll figure something out, given that you were an actual mechanic. Anyway, here it is, and I got to get moving. Other priorities."

With hardly a fair thee well, the vampire Zach started off toward the west. He stopped again, and turned to say, "I gave the council everything I know about this militia. We might be able to send someone up to check on you in the spring, but no promises."

"The fuck!" Kinisha exclaimed, and threw a light kick at the gun trailer's tire.

"What are you going to do with this?" Leora asked, looking with concern where Kinisha kicked it.

Nodding to herself, Kinisha turned to say, "Okay, let's get this to my workshop."

Jötunheimr had fifteen mechanics and four engineers, so Kinisha passed over the pump she had worked on and her drawings outlining what he had planned to finish it. Leora became her extra pair of hands on days when no one needed her at the clinic she ran out of her lodge. Kinisha dealt with the problem of handholds and trigger first, and the results were more for practicality than aesthetic, though the shoulder stock she attached turned the weapon into a recognizable rifle.

By the time she finished up the town vote was already tallied. The memory of evacuating the Salt Lake Valley was fresh on everyone's mind. Those able-bodied presented themselves before Utgard Hall. Kinisha drafted something resembling a plan, but that was largely everyone staying in and around Jötunheimr with two pairs of archers running patrols further out.

If Kinisha pulled this off no one else would be fighting.

Not one for speeches, despite writing the Jötunheimr charter of democratic governance, Kinisha bid everyone well. Heading east, Kinisha wore a fur-lined leather coat with the Madsen slung around her shoulder, a satchel filled with the other eight magazines, and a two-foot "knife" fashioned out of junk steel strapped to her thigh. It was the direction Zach had said the human purists were advancing from, which likely meant they were from Wyoming.

After seven hours of following Zach's trail, Kinisha reached the end of the high valley that the giants had made their home. She wasn't exactly sure how she'd conceal her approach, since even groups of aspen trees weren't enough to hide behind. Even the women of Jötunheimr were over a ton and, like the men, had the build of professional weightlifters.

Kinisha decided on careful trudging between dense clusters of evergreens. By nightfall she could make out campfires further down the mountain. Along with the other refit work, Kinisha had added a telescope that Chandra used during her outings for controlling avalanches.

The Madsen gun's maximum range was over twenty-one hundred meters, but effective range was more like five hundred. However, that wasn't the main reason Kinisha risked closing in on the militia camp.

Kinisha turned to make sure that the waxing crescent moon had dropped low enough to offer no extra illumination. Then, Kinisha picked her way down in a strained sloth. Rather than let her steps crunch snow, Kinisha carefully sifted snow aside before putting weight on her lead foot. It took an hour to get within the last group of trees.

This time with her hands, Kinisha brushed aside snow to set up a prone shooting position. The scope had a bit of leather tied onto the end to prevent shine, and Kinisha slowly untied it enough to raise over the top of the scope.

Panning back and forth, Kinisha studied the various normal people... humans, as Kinisha wasn't considered one anymore. Many had pistols strapped to their sides, and rifles were propped up in threes outside tents. Men, and some women drank, smoke, talked, and laughed. Kinisha made out some of it.

"Boy, 'member when we got that howler?" one man said.

"Think she was beggin' for her life," another other replied, "Though, couldn't make out a word of it, what with that wolf face."

Then someone stepped out that got Kinisha's attention. There was an unusual shimmer about the man's shoulders that seemed to reach down and out. Then a ruffle filled in the picture for Kinisha.

"Angels?" Kinisha mouthed, hardly uttering a sound.

"What you all make of that Zach?" the winged man asked holding his steaming mug out to the others around the fire. "Think he's telling the truth about who's up there?"

"Creepy how he wouldn't show his face," the first human remarked.

"Mother fucker," Kinisha seethed.

"Sure wish our Madsen crew would call in," the angel said, "We need that next anchor point for cover when we start up in the morning."

Kinisha had a thought, and panned the rifle around until finding another Madsen gun affixed to a trailer as hers had once been. This one was parked between four tents, and in one Kinisha saw a single person sleeping inside.

A rustle from behind sent a shiver up Kinisha's body. Even at night, the cold wasn't intolerable, yet Kinisha was reminded what cold was.

"Can't fuckin' believe it," chattered a voice of panic.

"Just keep goin'," another urged, "We're almost there!"

The pair scrambled right past Kinisha's position and kept going without appearing to notice her. Her breath caught in her throat, but Kinisha kept statue-still even though a bead of sweat formed on her forehead. The two men stumbled right into the firelight, allowing Kinisha a look at them.

Both had blood-splatter on their snow pants and coats. They called out to the others, but Kinisha couldn't make out a word in their rushed panic to report their experiences.

"Hold on," the angel said, waving both hands. "Slow down and start over. Where's Samantha and Tommy?"

"He killed them!" the survivor was still terrified, but able to articulate his story. "I saw it! Took his mirrored mask off and tore into Samantha's neck like a zombie or somethin'!"

"Wait," the first campfire human interjected, "Was he eating her flesh?"

"Man, I dunno!" the second survivor's hysteria was growing. "Fuckin' ran when I saw it, and pulled at James along the way."

"Vampires," the angel said for the others and nodded. "I've seem them before. You're saying he turned on you."

"Shoulda known," the other campfire human said, "G'ment men are all alike. Goddamn unpatriotic and now undead."

"Christ will see us through this," the angel assured.

"Jesus, that's all we need," Kinisha breathed to herself, and then committed to action.

Kinisha wasn't a hundred percent sure this angel was leading them, but he was a good start. Noting the wind pattern, Kinisha fine-tuned her aim and triple-checked her range assessment. Then, at the bottom of her exhale, Kinisha depressed the trigger she built.

Originally fully automatic, Kinisha reworked the firing mechanism to only offer semi-auto fire. The loud crack and accompanying metallic slide of the recoil assembly left a red cloud of spray where the angel once stood.

Immediately, commotion and chaos erupted among the camp. People scrambled out of tents and grabbed at rifles without discipline. For every weapon picked up two more fell onto the ground, leaving those hurrying to pick them up. Every time Kinisha saw someone with binoculars, night vision goggles, infrared scopes she discharged another shot that exploded their bodies into barely recognizable pieces amid the cloud of red mist.

Kinisha counted down from fifteen in her shooting, and then went to get the next drum magazine. Only she realized the remaining militiamen had given up an organized defense and instead grabbed what they could carry before fleeing at random directions into the night.

To be sure, Kinisha took out the spend magazine and placed the new one in and waited. Silence reigned for an hour, before she was convinced they weren't circling back that night. Then, she broke down her nest and made her way back to Jötunheimr.

Before the whole town the next morning Kinisha described what happened in the night. She suggested that Zach lured the purists to Jötunheimr to have them neutralized without need of the military. However, Kinisha was sure that the extremists would try to attack Jötunheimr again, and that the only choice was for no town to be here when they came back. There were many protestations to the recommendations she made, but what convinced the other giants of her reasoning was the idea that Jötunheimr would exist wherever the community chose to settle.

The giants of Jötunheimr packed up what they could carry on handcarts, since the tamed elk were no good for pulling wagons. Cabins and other buildings were broken down over ten days and the materials burned. Kinisha would again lead her people through high-country snow, this time north along the Rocky Mountains. It didn't feel like victory, but no giant had died, so Kinisha kept telling herself that a win was a win.


End file.
